Third Time's A Charm
by Calie1
Summary: The past two times he screwed it up, this time he had to fix his mistake before it was to late. One Shot. Warning for adult situations.


Notes: Warning for adult situations.

"Lois, how nice to see you."

The brunette stepped out of the elevator and spotted Oliver standing behind the kitchen counter shirtless and knocking back some form of dark liquid. The sound of heels drew her attention away from him. Exiting the the bedroom was a tall, leggy, voluptuous red head. Her hair was slightly mussed, and she appeared to be wearing only the remnants of makeup. Lois put on her best sneer as the woman passed her with a smirk, sashaying the entire way. As the elevator lowered she turned back to Oliver. "You're disgusting you know that?"

"She didn't think so." Oliver laughed and turned away from her, heading towards his bedroom.

Lois opened her mouth to speak, but immediately stopped at the sight of Oliver's bare ass. With an annoyed sigh she turned around. "Put some damn shorts on!"

"I thought you came for a show," he responded and searched his floor for something. Finding only the slacks he wore earlier that night he grabbed them and pulled them back on.

"A rather sad pitiful one." Lois looked around his loft, noticing the disarray.

"So cut to the chase. Why the impromptu visit?"

She turned back to face him as he made his way across the loft and to the bar. "The gossip columns are having a field day now that you're back out playing the field, attending party's, tossing money around."

"I strive to be entertaining. What's your point?" He poured a strong glass of bourbon and turned around to face her.

"You're doing it again Ollie." She began walking towards him. "Falling off the deep end. What's it going to take?"

"Considering this is where I keep winding up..." He shrugged in response and chugged on the glass, grateful for the warmth it provided. In no time he'd be drunk again. "Maybe I should stay here."

"No! You're Oliver Queen, CEO, Green Arrow! You have responsibilities! You can't just do a nose dive into alcohol and women anytime things get rough!" He rolled his eyes before turning around and topping off his glass. Lois had to resist the urge to slap it out his hand.

"Clark put you up to this?"

She sighed at his question. "No. He mentioned that he had talked to you and that you wouldn't listen. But I came on my own. What is wrong with you? Clark doesn't know, I don't, I even asked Chloe, but she only shrugged it off." He slammed the glass roughly on the counter causing liquid to slosh out of it. "What is going on with you Oliver?"

"I think you should leave this one alone Lois." He lifted the glass again, draining it, and wincing as the dark liquid burned.

"I can't. I told you last time, I'm still your friend." She stopped behind him and rested a hand on his shoulder. "You can tell me." He reached for the bottle again, but she settled her hand over his, stopping him as he lifted it. "Oliver I'm willing to listen and to help. You can tell me."

"Forgive me if I don't want to talk to my ex about troubles with woman."

She felt him move to lift the bottle again, but she stepped forward and used her other hand to pull it away. Placing it at the other end of the bar she turned to him. "You listened to me one time. I want you happy Oliver. I've always wanted that. Let me help you."

He turned his head to face her and chuckled at her, but even to his ears it fell flat. "Happiness, right. I've been so lucky in that regard. Let's see." He walked around her to the bottle she had set aside. "I loved Tess, well I though tI did . I fucked that up pretty well. Cheated on her and then it was 'don't let the door hit you on the way out'."

Los frowned as he poured another drink, but he was talking, and she wasn't about to do anything to interrupt that.

"You know as cold as that bitch was I think she was still hurt over it?" Oliver shrugged and sipped on his bourbon. "Besides," Oliver shrugged, "I was probably better off. She probably kills her lovers in their sleep. Then," Oliver tipped his glass at Lois and made a show of excitement, "there was you Lois. Perfect," he shook his head, "everything was perfect. But life, or my _other_ life got in the way. Once again, Oliver fucked up."

They hadn't discussed their relationship in a long time and Lois never brought it up, fearing that perhaps he still held on to it as he seemed to the last time they spoke of it.

"Then when I came back, and you knew the truth, it wasn't enough. I was too late. You'd moved on. And I didn't get that, because I loved you. I would have given you anything, done anything for you Lois." He shook his head at her and leaned against the bar. "But none of that was enough."

"Things were different," Lois admitted gently. "I still loved you, but I knew that it wasn't enough."

"No, you're right. You wanted more. You wanted someone willing to invest the time, and I wasn't. And I tried to move on from it, I really did. But once in a while there you were, pulling at my heart again and it hurt for the longest time." His voice was even and soft by the time he was finished speaking.

"I'm sorry." She swallowed nervously and looked up at him sadly. "I never wanted to hurt you."

"Be that as it may." He took another swig of his glass and set it on the bar. "So you know what I did this time? You're going to like this."

He chuckled to himself and grabbed the neck of the bottle of bourbon before walking away from the bar. Oliver downing an entire bottle of bourbon wouldn't turn out well, but she was too close now to stop him. Without a word she followed him to the sofa and took a seat near him after he collapsed on it.

"I screwed up from the very beginning. Let's not forget that it shouldn't have happened in the first place. But from the beginning it was just sex." Oliver chugged the bottle and settled it between him legs. Slowly, lazily, he shook his head, noting how his eyes began to droop slightly. "Great, hot sex to be sure. Anywhere, anytime." He turned to Lois and shrugged. "Sorry."

She rolled her eyes in response. "I'm sure I can handle it. If it was just sex then what's the problem?"

"You're kidding, right? I thought you would have figured it out." He turned away from her and looked straight ahead, staring at nothing in particular. "She started dating someone. And you know how long it took me to figure it out? Three weeks." He nodded to himself. "Three fucking weeks she dated this guy and the whole time still fucking me."

"What happened?" Lois asked softly, aware now more than ever the way his face had tensed up and his brow drew together in what appeared to be pain.

"It turned out it wasn't just sex. At least for me. Too little too late I suppose. And true to Oliver Queen form I fucked it up even further." He turned to face Lois again. "Who would have thought she didn't want to read about me getting drunk every night and bringing home women. Of course I think it was the picture from the strip club that really struck home. Nothing like having a picture of you grabbing a girl's ass and having her tits shoved in your face floating around."

Resisting the urge to point out that he brought most of it on himself, Lois instead questioned further. "What did she say?"

"That she knew I was most likely seeing other people, but she didn't want to have anything to do with a man that made it a career fucking every woman in a city of over 100,000 people. She'd rather devote her time to finding a real meaningful relationship." He took a lazy swig of the bottle and shrugged. "I told her I wish her luck. Cold hearted jaded bitches didn't usually find meaningful relationships."

"Oh, Ollie..." She sighed and rubbed her face. When she looked up at him there was no emotion on his face, and he just stared blankly straight ahead. "Do you love her?" He swallowed then turned to look at her. His eyes were bloodshot from the alcohol, dark circles under his eyes. He looked like hell. "Why don't you tell her."

He shook his head, and turned away from her.

"What you are doing to yourself though, that won't help. You have other friends Oliver. Clark and I, we're your friends."

He snorted. "Sorry Lois, as much as you and I are over, I'd like to avoid the lovey dovey crap right now."

"What about Chloe?"

"Drop it Lois," he said evenly.

She ignored him. "I mean for a while the two of seemed to get along pretty good. And lord knows she never really gets out and is in desperate need of friends." He leaned forward and propped an elbow on his knee, rubbing his face furiously with his hand. "Look, it's my birthday next weekend. Why don't you come with us? I know we're not all upper class like you're used to, but it's better than you going out and getting trashed. It's just going to be me, Clark, and Chloe." He shook his head jerkily. "Come on Oliver, it's my birthday. You never miss my birthday."

"I can't." His voice was raw with emotion as the shields he had put up were slowly slipping away from talking.

"Why? I'm not taking no for an answer Oliver. It's just us, you don't-."

"Your cousin." Oliver said hoarsely.

Lois scrunched her face in confusion. "Chloe? What about her?" He sat up again and turned to her.

"Who the hell do you think I've been talking about?"

She opened her mouth briefly and then shut it again, before she finally found the ability to speak. "Chloe, Chloe's the woman you've been talking about." He said nothing, but that was confirmation enough. "Jesus Oliver." She sighed and buried her face in her hands. "How...."

He shrugged. "I don't know. We were both alone, didn't have anything to hide from one another. It was just easy."

For the time being Lois pushed away the slightly hurt feelings that her cousin and ex were fooling around behind her back and tried to ignore the total ick factor of it. Instead she focused on Oliver, because he was hurt. "At the risk of asking a stupid question. Why didn't you just tell her? Why go off the deep end?" She knew why. Oliver was an idiot, an emotional mess.

He shrugged. "She wouldn't care. Dating some lazy ass looking chump."

"Look Oliver, I'm making a huge effort here to even discuss this with you considering she is my cousin. So listen very carefully. This is Chloe we are talking about. Chloe does NOT sleep around. And I know she has been a little off her game lately, but come on. Why do you think she told you to get lost? Do you think she'd want to be a woman mixed with twenty others?"

"She wasn't!" Oliver exclaimed. "I wasn't sleeping with anyone else! I didn't want to!"

"And did you tell her that?" Lois asked pointedly. "Did you come out and tell her that? Did you ask her not to see other people?" When he didn't answer, and instead took another swig of his bottle she frowned. "Right. Look Oliver, you had a chance, you did. I'll admit that I'm sure Chloe would be more wary than others, but you should have at least tried. How long did you wait to try to get Tess back? How long before you came back for me?" He wouldn't look at her. "At least try Oliver, before it's too late.

Chloe cursed as she ran down the street. The wind blew again, whipping around her, soaking her with rain. A loud cracking sound drew her attention up to where her umbrella had just flipped up, snapping one of the wires in half. "Grrr!!!" Passing a trash can she shoved it in. At least she was less than a block away from home. So much for going out for coffee by herself to relax. As she ran across the seat, building in sight, she saw him get out of his car. She slowed as she walked across the street, considering on stopping, but instead passing him.

"Chloe."

She shook the water from her face and walked briskly to her doors. A hand on her arm stopped her, turning her around to face him.

"Chloe, let me come up. I just want to talk," he pleaded gently.

"No." She shook her head. "I don't think that would be a good idea." Yet he wouldn't release her. Instead looking at her with that same cool facade that she had become accustomed to.

"Then we can talk out here." He held her arm in his, making sure his grip was firm considering how slick the water had made her skin.

"There isn't anything to talk about."

Lord knew all he wanted to do was lower his head and kiss her. Run his lips over her wet cheeks, peel the wet clothes from her body, kiss her moist skin. "I'm sorry."

She sighed and looked away, determined to keep her face neutral. "Oliver, it doesn't matter."

"The things I did... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hurt you like that." Lightning lit up the sky and thunder followed soon after. He could feel her jump under his hand.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "It doesn't matter. What you're doing with them is exactly what we were doing. So who am I to judge?"

It must have mattered though, because there was no expression on her face, no emotion whatsoever. And as mad as she had been at him two weeks ago, he was expecting more of a response then just a shrug. "It isn't the same. They weren't anything."

Chloe felt a flash of anger at his words. She wanted to slap him and demand to know why he flaunted it in front of the whole world if those women weren't anything. "Look, if you're feeling guilty- don't. I absolve you of all guilt Oliver. If that is what this rampage is about, your guilt, don't worry about it."

"This isn't about my guilt. Are you serious?" he asked with a little more disgust than he had intended. "I don't want this. This animosity between the two of us. I'd give anything to go back and take back what I said."

"I've gotta go." She moved to pull away again, this time pulling more forcefully on her arm, but his hand tightened and finally her temper snapped and she spun around on him. "Look, Oliver, what's this about? I told you it's fine. Don't worry about it. You're sorry, I understand that. I'm sure we both said some pretty hurtful things, and we'll move on from it. We did something that was fun while it lasted, but we let our feelings get in the way." She pushed aside the wet hair on her cheek. "I mean, I don't know what else you want."

He wanted her back, he wanted all of her, not just her body late at night behind closed doors. He wanted her all the time. "I want you to know the truth."

"I know enough Oliver. I know you don't like the idea that I was actually seeing someone when you weren't. Because we wouldn't want to bruise your ego!" Chloe exclaimed over the pouring rain. A couple ran passed them, clinging together under an umbrella, but they still turned at looked at them strangely. They had to look ridiculous, standing there in the rain arguing.

"Do you think I cared about those women?! I can't even remember half of their names or what they look like!" She narrowed her eyes angrily, and she had to admit, his words weren't necessarily working in his favor.

"Then why?! Were you bored?! Needed more variety?!" She slammed her hand on his chest angrily, shoving him backwards. "Or was I just the flavor of the month?!" He grabbed her wrist and yanked her against his chest with the hand that still gripped her arm. Chloe gasped and tried to shove away from him, but she knew it was hopeless.

"I didn't want anyone else!" He breathed heavily, chest pushing against her own as he felt the pain, anger, and hurt from the past two weeks come to a head. "I wanted you. I've fucked up every serious relationship I've ever been in and by the time I tried to get it back it was too late. But with you I fucked it up from the beginning, setting myself up to fail. I told you no strings attached, that we didn't have to let emotions get in the way, but that's not what I did." He swallowed past the lump in his throat. "I couldn't take it, knowing you were seeing someone else. It made me sick. So I did what I always do when I can't deal with it, I numb the pain."

Chloe shook her head, refusing to give in. "No. I don't care." She pushed at him again and looked away. "Let me go."

The panic was setting in, the fear that Lois had been wrong, that it really was too late to save anything. He released her, but grasped her face in his hands. "Don't do this Chloe."

She ripped her face from his hands and stepped back, mouth gaping open in shock in anger. "Me don't do this?! You did this! Instead of just telling me this in the first place..." She broke off, willing herself to fight back the tears that she knew were coming. She only prayed the water splattering her face would hide them. "I didn't even see him again!" Her voice was shaking now. "After what you said to me that day it just didn't matter! And you didn't just drink yourself into a coma or drop a million in Vegas! You fucked every damn woman you could find! Don't you think that hurt?!"

"Chloe...I..." There was nothing he could say though. At the time it hadn't even occurred to him that he was actually hurting her. It had been his selfish assumption at the time that he was the only one that had been hurt.

"I wasn't dating him to hurt you! I did it for me! I did it because I deserved to at least try and find something real! Even if I was forcing myself to go on the third date!" Her voice was hoarse from screaming and her chest heaving. "Do you know what it was like sitting home alone knowing you were out there with any woman? And I had to see it." Her voice cracked with the pain. "I saw it almost everyday, how Oliver Queen was at it again. Going through women like they were going out of style one paper said." She shook her head, not caring that instead of being angry at her he instead only seemed to be in pain, as much pain as she knew she was in. "You don't do that to people you care about." The tears that she had hoped were hidden by the dripping rainwater on her cheeks were given away by the pain in her voice. "How could you?"

"I'm sorry Chloe. I was so wrapped up in myself, I just didn't..." He voice trailed off, unable to find any words that would excuse himself from what he did. It would have been selfish of him to think he could explain any of his actions, and he found he didn't even want to try, not what he was standing in front of him, soaked to the bone, shaking, eyes red from crying, and looked up at him with green eyes filled with pain, pain that he had caused.

"It doesn't matter anymore." She whispered softly, feeling as if her heart was in her throat. The right thing to do would be to walk away. Oliver couldn't be trusted, at least not with her feelings, not with her heart.

He watched her turn away from him, walk towards the steps to her building. The reasonable part of him wanted to let her go, knowing she deserved better than him and admitting that he didn't deserve a second chance...again. Except if he let her walk away from him he couldn't take it, and the panic set it. Oliver bounded forward grabbing her arm and pulled her back around. "It does matter. I know I don't deserve a second chance, but I'm going to beg you for it anyway." He grabbed her face in his hands and pushed away the blonde hair clinging to her wet cheeks. "Because I can't lose you again. I can't go through this again."

"No, you can't just-."

"I'm sorry. I know I can't make it up to you and make it okay. I know I can't just apologize to you and everything will go back to normal. But," he ran his eyes over her face, reminding himself that it was worth laying it all out on the line, even if she only stomped on his heart, "I love you and and I can't just let you walk away without even trying."

"No." She shook her head, tears flooding her eyes and blurring her vision. "You don't. Don't say that. You can't just say things like that." But even as she denied it she was crying harder, almost sobbing now.

He stepped closer and lowered his face to her, pressing his forehead against her own. "I love you. I can't live like this, without you. And I want the emotions and the strings that come with them. I want the baggage. And not just the nights in the bedroom, but the mornings, the days, the weekends, vacations. I want all of it."

"Oliver..." She said softly, trying to find it within her to say no. Except she couldn't help but believe him. Oliver could have lied to her if he wanted to, but not like that. Not the pleading in his voice and in his face.

"I'll never hurt you like that again." His voice was strained with pent up emotion and the fear that this would be the time that she finally pulled away from him. But she didn't. She lowered her head slowly, leaning into him. As he hesitantly put an arm around her back he could feel her shaking. When he wrapped the other around her, pulling her against his body, she came willingly and wrapped her hands around his waist. Nails dug into his back as she cried, but he couldn't have cared. After some time he reached around his waist and gently slid his fingers through her own, prying the keys from her grasp. She released them easily, and when he dropped one arm and used the other to guide her up the steps she didn't stop him.

Chloe stepped into her living room and couldn't fight the shiver that ran through her when the cool air hit her body. She dropped her purse to the floor, almost in a daze, and at the sound of the door closing behind her she turned around.

"Come on, before we ruin your floor."

She only nodded in return, slightly wondering why he would have even thought about that, but regardless she let him lead her to her room. From there he left her standing in the middle of the carpet, dripping wet, while he entered her bathroom. When he returned he was sans jacket, rubbing a towel over his spiky hair. Before she could even take a towel from him he was in front of her, wiping the rainwater from her cheeks and wrapping the tower around her body.

"I'll let you change." His voice was only a whisper in the room and still she didn't speak, only nodding slightly. Yet he didn't move away.

Chloe waited, for something to happen as he stared down at her, and his hands slowed from rubbing the towel over her arms. And before she knew it she was was pleading with him. "Ollie..." His head dropped in towards her swiftly, but the kiss was so much more different. It was slow, and deep, his lips warming against hers as his tongue slipped passed her lips. And when he dropped the towel, threading his hands into her hair, she stepped forward, leaning into him and pushing up onto her toes as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"God I missed you," Oliver mumbled against her lips before slanting them over her against. She whimpered softly in the back of her throat as kissed her again, pulling herself tighter against him. He slid his hands from her hair to the hem of her shirt, and underneath to rest on the cool clammy skin of her back. She arched further into him, breast thrusting forward into his chest, reminding him how they felt in his hands, how she responded as he brought each nipple into his mouth. He wanted it again, he missed it. But more than anything he just needed it. "I'll stop," he admitted as he pulled back from her. "If you want me to I'll stop."

"No." There was no stopping. It had been too long, and she was desperate for him, desperate for the feel of him against her. "Touch me." A second passed before she felt his lips on hers again, this time with purpose. His hands slid away from her back, grabbed the bottom of her shirt and forced them to part as he pulled it over her head. Chloe moved for his, but his hands where already there, yanking the cotton t-shirt off. So instead she reached around her back and unsnapped her bra, letting it drop unceremoniously to the floor. Before she could even consider whether his pants or hers should go first his hands were on her waist pulling here against him again, crushing her breasts against his bare chest. Chloe shuddered in response, shaking slightly at the feel of his bare skin against hers once again. The next few moments were spent ridding them of the rest of their wet clothing and shoes. There was no pause when the last shred of clothing was gone.

Oliver backed her up slowly, keeping one arm firmly around her waist, and his other hand buried in her hair as he kissed her. In the dim light from the bathroom he found the bed, pushing her against it. And as she crawled backwards upon it, he didn't break the kiss, leaning over her and then moving onto the bed settling between the warmth of her legs.

She felt him immediately. Long, thick, and hard as always, pressed against her slit.

Her gasp of approval only urged him on, making him kiss her deeper, slide the length of himself over her wet folds, pressing harder over where she knew her clit to be. She whined in the back of her throat, and slid against him. She was slick and hot and it took too much control for him not to just tilt his hips slightly forward and slide the tip himself into her.

Even with his body settled on top of her, nestled between her legs, she still wanted to be closer. She tightened her arms around his back, digging her nails in dipper when he nudged her head to the side and cradled the back of her head as his lips trailed over her neck. His other hand slid between them, and her stomach clenched as it gently brushed over her abdomen. Then slowly one finger slid over her and she clutched at him, dropping her head back into the pillow with a gasp. Trying desperately to urge him inside of her she wrapped a leg around his waist and pressed herself closer to his hand. Except it wasn't his hand she wanted. "Now," she said breathlessly. "I don't want to wait." His head lifted from her neck and she found herself under his scrutiny for a moment, then she felt his lips against hers, his coaxing them open slowly, kissing her deep, but without the insistent need that usually preceded their coming together.

She whined softly in the back of her throat and lowered her hips, finding the tip of him and pushing against it. Pulling back from her thrust he grabbed her hip and pulled away from her lips. "You do believe me right? That I love you."

Thoughts of him inside of her faded away for the moment. "I know you wouldn't lie."

That wasn't a yes though. "But..."

"It's a bit much to comprehend. Considering just this past week you were-."

He released her hair and pushed two fingers against her lips. "Don't. I know I deserve it, just not right now." She nodded, but it was already creeping back into his mind, the memories of the woman the previous night when Lois came by and the others. It made him sick to know he'd just been with someone else just twenty-four hours ago. Oliver did his best to ignore it, especially if she could. There were other things he wanted to say, but he couldn't find the courage to at that moment. Instead he lowered his lips back to her own, kissing her lips almost lazily, just brushing his tongue over them. Then slowly he lowered himself back down, guiding her hips up and filling her. As usual her lips broke off from his, mouth opening in a silent gasp.

She clung to him, legs wrapped tightly around his waist, fingers grasping at his back. His thrusts weren't fast, or hard, not like they usually were. Just slow and deep. He'd pull out of her, the tip of him just barely in, and the slide home against, pressing deep into her, making her body arch underneath him, dig her nails deeper. His lips alternated between kissing her, trailing over her face, and kissing her neck. It was slow, too slow, and she knew then, she knew he was serious. He whispered into her neck, telling her again as he pushed deeply within her. Chloe grasped at his hair, dropping her head back, barely even registering his apology. He didn't pull out of her, only moved his hips against her, pushing deep inside of her. There wasn't a space between them.

He couldn't get closer, and as much as he wanted to move deeper in her he couldn't. It was physically impossible. But it was enough, to feel her holding onto him tightly, feel her hot and wet around him, hear her gasp every time he tried to push deeper. Even though he had been falling for her before, it had been different, he didn't understand. Now he did, now he knew he needed her, knew he loved her. It didn't matter that she hadn't said it. It was harder for her. They both had lost so many things, but he hadn't lost a person he loved like her. Oliver couldn't expect her to love another man so easily, but she had taken him back, regardless of what he'd done. The only thing he could believe was that if she didn't feel as strongly as he did, she soon would.

"Ollie," she whimpered into his neck, grasping his hair in her fist, and holding herself close. She was so close, and yet she still couldn't get her fill of him. His lips pressed soft kisses against her neck, behind her ear. "Don't hurt me."

He heard the pleading in her voice, and it wasn't for anything physical. He pulled away, ignoring the need deep inside of him and stared down at her face. It was flushed, lips swollen, eyes hooded, and hair mussed from rain and exertion. "I was serious when I said I love you." He cradled her cheek in his hand and smoothed his thumb over the smooth skin. "I care more about you than anyone else Chloe."

She felt her chest tighten at his proclamation. Cupping the back of his head with her hand she pulled his head down to hers, kissing him. This time not slow as he had done, but with all the need and the desperation that she had felt since he had walked out on her. He was moving again, and she met him. Clinging to his back, gripping at his hair, she thrust up against him, chasing her release. He was deep within her, pushing further, demanding more, and when he wrapped an arm around her waist, hauling her up and against him she let her head fall back against the pillow in defeat, letting him move deeper with in her. It didn't matter that it bordered on too much, and she wasn't sure she could take it if he found a way to push deeper, but she wasn't going to stop him. It felt wonderful, the way he tried so desperately to find something more. She could hear him breathe shakily and his fingers digging into her hips.

She gasped suddenly, inhaling sharply, a sound he was all to familiar with. He claimed her lips again, moving inside of her faster, pulling out further and thrusting back in sharply. Then his own release claimed him and he dropped his head to her shoulder, thrusting into her harder, relishing in the way she cried out beneath him calling his name.

By the time she woke to the sun streaming in her windows they'd come together two more times. Waking once in the middle of the night to him behind her, running his fingers between her legs. She'd come around him on her hands and knees. The second time she only dozed, cuddling against his body, trailing her hands over his chest, stomach hips, and then his growing erection. Eventually she'd moved on top of him, straddling his body and lowering herself onto him. By the time morning came around though she laid lazing over him, leg sprawled over his body and cheek pressed against his chest.

"You're not sleeping." Chloe raised her head, looking up at him from his chest. "You're not," she pointed out, but he didn't say anything, just continued to trail a hand over the thigh that rested over his stomach. "Why?"

"I never see you in the morning. I wasn't sure if you slept in or not." He admitted to her, slightly embarrassed that she had observed it and guilty that he had never stayed longer to realize it.

"Not often." She settled her cheek back down against the hardness of his chest and sighed. His other hand settled against her back, trailing his fingers up and down her spine.

"Hey," he said. She lifted her head, green eyes looking at him intently, even though it couldn't have been past eight in the morning. "Everything I said last night. I mean it." He lifted his hand from her thigh and brought it to her face to cradle her cheek. "I know you don't believe me."

"I want to," Chloe admitted, even though she still feared he would leave her behind again.

"I have time. I'll wait for as long as it takes."

She couldn't help but feel eager at his promise. Hoping, more than she should have let herself, that he would. "Will you?"

He noted the anxiety in her face. Not something she had ben born with, but something that had been born by the murder of Jimmy, the trust she had place in a murderer, the desertion of a best friend, and the callous actions of himself. "I love you, all I want is for you to love me back. I can wait for that." She buried her head into his chest without a word. Then she slid up his body slowly, legs trailing over him, breast pressing up his side. Her cheek settled on his shoulder, her face close enough to him that he could feel her breath on his throat.

"Ollie, I-" She swallowed, fear gripping her heart and making her unable to breath. "I love too." The hand on her back stilled. In fact his whole body seemed to freeze. Slowly, she looked up to him, waiting, for anything. As her eyes met his own he rolled them over suddenly, nudging his body between her legs.

"Say it again."

His lips brushed against hers as he spoke, and his voice was demanding. "I love you." Then he was kissing her, roughly, grabbing one of her thighs and pulling it around him. He sunk into her seconds later, slowly moving with in her, dragging out her release until she pleaded, and then he insisted again with his hand gripping her hair tightly and the other digging into her hip. She whimpered as he thrust roughly into her and she called out his name again, begging him for release, but he only pulled back, and demanded again. And she said it. Again and again as he thrust into her, not even scared that he knew or scared that she'd lose her heart to him. When they came together he held on to her just as tightly as she held on to him, kissed her just as desperately as she kissed him, and when she whispered those three words to him his arms tightened around her and he whispered them back.


End file.
